Rathayatra:
When Puri Becomes a Vast Temple

 

Why is Rathayatra much awaited?

Rathayatra may have been purposely designed to provide open-access darshan of the deities to devotees regardless of their caste or religion.

Here is a Sambalpuri couplet by a distressed devotee:

ଉଡ଼୍‌ସା ଯିମି ବଲି ଘିନିଥିଲିଁ ପାଟ

ଉଡ଼୍‌ସାର୍‌ ଲୁକ ଆମ୍‌କୁଁ ନାଇଁ ଛାଡ୍‌ଲେ ବାଟ

Udsaa jimi bali ghinithilin paata

Udsaar luka aamkun naain chaadle baata.

 

To visit Jagannath Puri,

I bought a pata saree;

Alas, the temple gate-keepers refused us entry!

A poignant couplet capturing the anguish of a deprived devotee, a woman from western Odisha, inhabited mostly by scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, and backward castes. Obviously, she belonged to a caste that was not permitted entry into Shreemandira. She and her accompanying kin were unaware that darshan of Jagannatha may be denied to a devotee. They had made the arduous, risky, and expensive journey with prayer on their lips and Jagannatha in their heart and soul. How crestfallen they must have been when denied access to the temple!

Puri: A Temple without Walls

During Rathayatra, something magical happens. Puri metamorphoses into a vast temple. A temple without walls. The presiding deities ascend their rathas and are dotingly pulled by thousands of devotees and taken to Gundicha temple. Shreemandira expands its sacred sphere to embrace and include the Bada Danda (Grand Avenue), Gundicha temple, the rest of the pilgrim city, and the millions of devotees who have travelled from far and wide.

(Source: wikimedia commons - By I, G-u-t, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2472322)

Rathas as Mobile Temples

“During the ratha yatra when "the Lord of the Universe" leaves his "jewelled lion throne" (ratnasimhasana) in order to appear to his devotees, even the most humble, the ratha thus transforms the separate temple buildings of the "divine palace" into one, drawn by devotees from all social strata and pilgrims from all quarters of the Hindu world….

Puri's rathas are thus an example of "mobile architecture" ….. Their consecration on the eve of the ratha yatra and their outer shape identify them as the main temples during ratha yatra. Moving from the "Lions Gate" (simhadvara) in front of the Jagannatha temple … to the Gundica temple, a distance of about 3 km, they extend the ritual and sacred sphere of the temple into major parts of the town, thus transforming Puri (=town) into a veritable temple city.”[i]

Today, Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya, 20^th June, 2023, is the auspicious Rathayatra, also called Shree Gundicha Yatra.

May Lord Jagannatha bless all!

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[i] RATHAS AND RAJAS: THE CAR FESTIVAL AT PURI by Hermann Kulke:

The special issue of "Art and Archaeological Research Papers" ( aarp, London ) vol. XVI, Dec. 1979, on "Mobile Architecture in Asia : Ceremonial Chariots. Floats and Carriages". p. 19-26.)